FONDA, N.Y. – Rocky Warner, previously the man to beat in the Sportsman class at Fonda Speedway and around the Empire State, is rapidly achieving the same stature in the Modified division at Fonda.
Saturday night, Warner blasted around the outside after starting 11th to stand second behind Pep Coradi for a lap 20 restart. On the green, he again hit turn one on the extreme outside and hit the backstretch with a lead that became a full turn in four laps and over a straightaway by the time the checkers were displayed.
Coradi held on for second despite Bobby Varin’s best efforts, with Jessica (Zemken) Friesen and Matt DeLorenzo rounding out the top five. They were trailed by 16th starting rookie David Schilling, Steve Akers, Craig Hansen, Codie Bleau and Mike Maresca.
Scott Huber got the drop on polesitter Coradi on the initial break and led until lap ten, when Coradi and a handful of other pursuers finally got by him. By then, Warner was sixth, but he kept charging and was all over Varin for fourth by halfway.
He drove around Varin in lapped traffic on 19, then did the same to second running Darwin Greene two laps later to put him alongside Coradi for the lap 20 restart. From there, it was a cakewalk.
“I was running kind of far out there but there was nothing on the bottom,” said Warner. “You can’t play follow the leader here. Mostly, I was praying for a caution because Bobby Varin is so tough and that helped me get clear of him.”
Luke Horning was the Pro Stock winner in a feature that saw the lead pack run two, three and even four abreast through much of the race. Kenny Gates drove from deep in the pack to swap the lead twice on the last lap, with Horning recovering to win by inches over Gates, Josh Coonradt and Nick Stone.
The visiting Vintage Replica racers feature saw Johnny Flach lead the entire distance in a replica of his own car, with Bryon Seyfield second in a popular Jack Johnson No. 12A lookalike and Dan Wood third in a Kenny Tremont No. 115.